Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959)

Alec McKuen: After all, we... we did hit the center of the earth.
Sir Oliver Lindenbrook:   It hit us, laddie.

Director:  Henry Levin
Producer:  Charles Brackett
Main Cast:  Pat Boone, James Mason and Arlene Dahl
Runtime:  129 minutes

No, this isn’t the 2008 remake with Brendan Fraser but rather the original 1959 film based the novel by Joules Verne.  The 50’s and 60’s brought us several of these adventure films and this one holds its position in the higher part of the ranks due to its quality cast and direction.  

It’s one of those classic movies that I recall seeing as a kid which fascinated me (well quite a few did in my younger age and they usually still do).  Just think about exploring a new world or better still a hidden world buried beneath our feet that is full of strange objects and creatures.  Just like that other classic The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm from 1962, the special effects will not cause the CGI people of the world to gape in awe, though for its time it was state of the art and even today it still inspires the imagination of the viewer.    

The film itself is certainly quite good and well worth watching especially if you enjoy these exploration type movies from the era.  It has a good dose of quality actors and actresses and simply tells the story of a scientist’s (James Mason) discovery of a way to enter into the earth’s core, so he and a few others (including Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl, Peter Ronson and a Goose) begin this journey by entering a cavern via the mouth of a volcano and there begins the group’s journey to the centre of the earth.  Will they all survive?  What will they find down there?  Will they ever see normal life again?  You will have to watch it and find out ☺

The Bluray reviewed is the Australian release by Shock DVD and from my knowledge uses the same video transfer as the original limited release from “Twilight Time” in the USA which saw only 3000 Blurays printed (they have since, in 2015, re-released another 5000 Limited Edition copy using a newer 4k transfer which is visually somewhat better than the Bluray we have here in Australia).  This means that the video quality is quite good with nice colour and sharpness for the vast majority of the film.  When you take into account that the original Twilight Time Bluray release in America cost USD30 + shiping we are getting a great deal because you can get basically the same disc for about $15 Aussie bucks from your local JB Hifi.  There are some instances of softness in the image however I reckon that stems more so from an issue with the source film as opposed to the video transfer.  The Audio comes in two flavours being a remastered DTS HD Master Audio 4.0 and there is also an isolated score in DTS HD Master Audio which is basically just the music soundtrack.  I listened to the standard soundtrack and it sounded quite good for the age of the film.

As a classic discovery type movie, it really is worth watching and comes recommended.

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Notable upcoming Bluray releases

There are some great upcoming releases here in Australia that might interest you.

A few notables due, at this stage, in March are Fletch (1985), Fletch Lives (1989), Criss Cross (1949 - a world first on bluray) and The Day of the Jackal (1973 - again a world first).  There also appears to be a chance that we will see Scarlet Street (1945 - a great Fritz Lang noir), A Touch of Evil (1958 - a great noir by Orson Welles) and possibly The Third Man (1949) all of which are great films.

Looking ahead a bird is whispering Star Wars: Rogue One looks for April 2017 and this year being the 40th Anniversary of Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) it has been going round that Disney have created a new 4K scan of the film but no news as to whether we will see a new Bluray release or if it is of the original version of Star Wars or the George Lucas approved version.

Talking of uncertainties, there is still the hope that the James Cameron hits The Abyss (1989 - a new 4K scan/restoration) and True Lies (1994) will be released later this year (hinted back in 2016 for a 2017 release) and I'm sure they will go like hotcakes.

That's all for now :)

Deutschland 83 (2015) - TV Series (8 episodes)

Having been to Germany I could only imagine the difficulties and hardships that would have been faced both in East and West Germany, especially in towns like Mödlareuth where a small village was literally divided in half.  It was nick named “Little Berlin” by the Americans between 1949 and 1990 cause just like the city Berlin, it too had a wall that divided the Russian and American Sector.  

There have been quite a few movies showing glimpses of life in divided Germany such as the 1961 Billy Wilder comedy One, Two, Three starring James Cagney as a Coca-Cola boss in West Berlin who is given the task of looking after his boss’ troublesome daughter, the fantastic Guy Hamilton (same guy who directed some Bond films) 1966 film Funeral in Berlin which stars Michael Caine as British agent Harry Palmer sent to Berlin to assist the defection of a Russian official (this is the second film in the series, the first being The Ipcress File).  However, there are others that detailed life behind the wall such as the outstanding 2006 Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck eye-opener The Lives of Others which shows the Stasi (State Security Service) in action as they spy on some artists in East Berlin. These are only three of many films made both during the Berlin Wall/Cold War era (1949 to 1989) all telling the story from a different point of view.

In Deutschland 83 (set in 1983) however we have a story being told during the latter years of the divided Germany where the nuclear threat was high.  The East German HVA (Main Directorate for Reconnaissance - Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung) recruit rookie Martin Rauch to infiltrate the West German army to learn more about the West’s military capabilities and in particular their abilities to conduct nuclear warfare against both East Germany (GDR) and Russia directly.

Martin goes to the West and learns the ropes of being a spy quickly and gains trust yet is torn between the love for his girlfriend and sick mother who are left behind in the East and susceptible to, shall we say, “encouragement” from the secret police and need to serve his country and protect the East from possible attacks. As the threat builds, Martin's involvement gets deeper and deeper and decisions become harder especially as close relationships are formed.

Put simply, the show is absolutely brilliant in virtually every way, be that production values, storytelling, nail-biting suspense and of course the awesome 80’s soundtrack.  The use of actual footage adds to the realism of the whole show and the actors are simply fantastic.  The whole thing gets you in and leaves you wanting more out of this 8-episode series.  Thankfully there is a Deutschland 86 being done though it doesn’t come out till 2018 and there is hope that a Deutschland 89 will also be done (1989 is when the Berlin Wall came down).

There are a few scenes of nudity but overall it is a brilliant series that is most certainly worth watching.  The series was purchased through Google Play however there is a DVD available in your local JB Hifi for Aussies.  Apart from the nudity and one or two gay scenes, it comes very highly recommended.

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The Party (1968)

Director: You.
Hrundi V. Bakshi: Me?
Director: Yes, you. Get off of my set, and out of my picture. Off, off! You're washed up, you're finished! I'll see to it that you never make another movie again!
Hrundi V. Bakshi: Does that include television, sir?

Quote No. 2
C. S. Divot: You mashuga!
Hrundi V. Bakshi: I am not your sugar.

[Mashuga is Yiddish for crazy/nuts, therefore here means crazy person]

Director: Blake Edwards
Producer: Blake Edwards
Main Cast:  Peter Sellers, Claudine Longet, J. Edward McKinley
Runtime:  99 minutes

Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers had great success with the series of original Pink Panther movies (The Pink Panther, A Shot in the Dark, The Return of the Pink Panther, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Revenge of the Pink Panther and much less so Trail of the Pink Panther) up till Peter’s death two years after the release of Revenge of the Pink Panther in 1982.  

The only movie by the pair outside of the Pink Panther franchise was The Party and it was something completely different.  In fact, it was originally meant to be an homage to silent films.  The script was only about 60 pages long which meant that the movie was mostly ab-lib by the actors and really brought out Peter Sellers comedic abilities.  They shot the film in sequence and even designed an add-on camera so they could view the footage after it was shot for fine tuning and continuity purposes (being able to view what you just filmed was previously un heard of, so it was similar in a way to our digital cameras where we no longer have to wait to get the film developed to view what we just shot).  

We start off with the filming of a movie where accident prone actor from India Hrundi V. Bakshi (Peter Sellers with his darkened skin) innocently stuffs things up including the eventual blowing up of the major set piece in the film.  In disgust, the director orders Hrundi off the set yelling that he will never work in Hollywood again.  The producer of that film then contacts the Movie Studio boss Fred Clutterbuck (J. Edward McKinley) who demands to know the name of this fool who ruined the movie so he can spread the word so that he will never get a role again.  Fred writes down Hrundi’s name on what he thinks is a scrap bit of paper on his disorganised desk but it is in fact an invitation list for his wife’s party.  
Hrundi gets the invite in the mail and turns up at the movie studio boss’s home and there begins The Party.  Poor ol Hrundi innocently gets into all sort’s strife and in the end the house gets flooded and filled with foam from excessive detergent usage.  This is really one of those old classics that you will remember once you have seen it with the often quoted “Birdie Num Num” likely topping the list.

Similar to Sellers Inspector Clouseau, everything goes wrong for Hrundi from losing his shoe, accidently flicking his food into the hair piece of a lady at the table, breaking the toilet, flooding the bathroom and ruining expensive art.  The film does not have a lot of dialogue but simply follows the great actor Peter Sellers around within the party for the majority of the 99-minute runtime.  As discussed earlier, much of the film is improvised where the actors are mostly set free and allowed to do, to some degree, as they feel and that really gives us the relaxed feel of the film, though some may find it slow.

Overall the movie is a complete crack-up that is hard to describe in words, however those familiar with Blake and Peter’s fantastic work in the Pink Panther series of films would know in some ways what to expect, though this has a more laid back style to it.  If you have a good sense of humor, and do not mind an English actor with face paint playing an Indian character this will give you a great night of laughs.  For those who don’t like the idea, keep in mind that one of the old Indian Prime Minister’s (Indira Gandhi) often quoted one of the character’s lines so it really can’t be all that bad ;)

    

The Bluray reviewed is the American Region A (above left image) locked release (un-viewable in Australian Bluray players) however a near identical Region B release has just crept into the Australian market in December 2016 so the review here equally applies to the Australian release pictured to the right above.

The image is in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and once we get to the “Party” section of the film the image quality is really good, however at the start it is a bit inconsistent in places.  Once we get into the main part of the film the image quality is really good with a sharp vibrant image throughout.  The sound quality is DTS HD Master Audio 2 Channel Stereo on the Region A USA disc and Dolby 2 channel stereo on the Australian release which for this type of film is fine though the DTS would have the better clarity for the great Henry Mancini soundtrack.  If you happen to have the old DVD release of the film, know that this edition of the film is leaps above in quality so it’s well worth the upgrade to the new edition of the DVD/Bluray.

Both Blurays also contain the same extras being:

• Inside THE PARTY featurette
• THE PARTY Revolution featurette
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Blake Edwards profile
• Walter Mirisch profile
• Ken Wales profile

Overall this a great classic that is a must see for all Peter Sellers fans and even a memorable one for those who are not really aware of the actor or his great ability to bring a comic flavour to almost everything he does.  It’s a great film and comes highly recommended!

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Hardcore Henry (2015)

Jimmy: Like my father always said, a grenade a day keeps the enemy at bay.

Director:  Ilya Naishuller
Producer:  Ekaterina Kononenko, Inga Vainshtein Smith, Timur Bekmambetov, Ilya Naishuller
Main Cast:  Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett, Tim Roth
Runtime:  96 minutes of insane first-person action

Lists.  I like lists that go through the Top 10 movie of this or that as they can be a great way to find out about a little known movie that ranks high in a certain category, according to the reviewer. In this case I came across a list of the Top 10 worst Sci-fi movies of 2016 and I thought it would be interesting to have a quick look.  Well in Number 10 came Hardcore Henry which I had not heard about however after the first sentence which said it was “shot entirely in first person- yes, like an actual first person shooter” I had a quick look at the trailer and didn’t even finish the trailer before deciding to take advantage of a sale at JB-Hifi (Australian retail store).  

There are very few movies that have been shot in first person, the first being 1947’s Lady in the Lake directed by and starring Robert Montgomery however the audiences didn’t like the view point very much and the film was a flop but has since gained decent interest in this unusual film noir.  There have been other films which have segments in first person but the only other film which takes Lady in the Lake’s viewpoint is Hardcore Henry and you are stuck in his head for the whole journey of the movie.

The movie begins with Henry being immersed in a red fluid and upon being woken up we find out that he was severely beaten up to a point where most of “Henry” was broken and busted up.  We see him getting prosthetic limbs from his scientifically intelligent wife and as she asks questions he either nods or shakes his head in response which naturally translates to what we see on the screen.  We also find out that Henry is mute and before they get the chance to give him a voice all chaos breaks out and the action begins and does not let up till the end.  Running, shooting, punching (or being punched), chasing…everything is in first person and whilst it may not be for everyone, I really enjoyed the different perspective.

In basic terms, the bad guys break into the lab in order to steal the technology powering Henry.  They kidnap his wife and with the help of a few others Henry, just like in many first person shooter games, begins the action packed hunt to kill the bad guys, rescue the girl and save the world.  There really isn’t much more to the story than that but to be honest, that’s not the great thing about the movie.  The whole movie feels like a live action version of a Far Cry (or many other first person shooter’s) video game where all you see of yourself is arms, hands and legs.  In fact, there is really only one scene where you see a reflection of Henry for more than 5 seconds. It really takes it to a whole new level and that is what makes this movie so original.  The story isn’t great, the action is consistent and full-on though sometimes you may wonder what is going on, but it’s the kind of movie where you can put logic on the backburner and just sit there and enjoy the show.  

I don’t usually go into how something is executed or filmed, but you may be wondering “How did they film it?”  Well they simply used a Go-Pro camera strapped to the actor’s head as shown above.  Whilst there is some stabilisation involved, I will give warning to those who do not like the shaky cam effect.  This movie is the result of a camera being strapped to someone’s head so there will be shaky cam to some degree and all the stunts are from a first person perspective so again, shaky cam warning!  
The film is primarily a Russian production and they also raised funds via crowdfunding to complete the film, much like 2012’s Iron Sky, but this is just so original in its execution and it will certainly be spinning in my Bluray player again.  That being said, I don’t think I would like to see lots of movies like this as I am sure the effect would lose its glamour after a while.

Another warning I will give up front is that the movie does contain a lot of violence that is in your face (well it is filmed in first person!) and some of it can be quite graphic.  There is also a section of the film which contains pieces of nudity and there is also a language warning too so these combined makes it unsuitable for children, hence the R rating.  But violence aside, is it really necessary to have the nudity and some of the language??  

The Bluray reviewed is the Australian release and gives us a solid disc with some great features.  The film, as indicated above, was filmed on Go-Pro cameras so whilst the image is good it’s not the same quality you would get from the standard studio cameras used in movies but it is still decent with only dark scenes losing some sharpness, but overall it’s a great image in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.  The sound is DTS HD Master Audio and sounds brilliant and will give your system a good workout.  The Bluray has the following extras:

• Deleted Scenes
• Fan Chat interviews
• Commentary by Director/Producer Ilya Naishuller
• Commentary by Actor/Executive Producer Sharlto Copley

Personally, apart from the nudity, I really enjoyed the movie in how it was executed and in its unusual point of view.  Sure, it doesn’t have the deepest story around but it is just a blast of fun seeing a movie taken from a FPS (first person shooter) game point of view and really makes you feel directly involved in the action.  It certainly isn’t for everyone, but if you like action and first person shooters or action games than this will be right up your alley.  Give it a whirl!

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